European stocks dive on fears of coronavirus outbreak in Italy

European stocks slumped on Monday, to deepen losses for the third straight session and dive to three-week low, amid a massive sell-off due to escalating fears over the coronavirus spread in Italy.

The Dow Jones Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 3.5% as of 11:25 GMT, and the index ended the Friday session down by 0.5%, in the second daily loss in a row, with sales continuing to take profits, after recording a new record level at 433.90 points in The session before the previous.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index was lower by 3.5% at 11:25 GMT, after it closed lower by 0.5% on Friday, posting its second straight daily loss on profit taking from its all-time high of 433.90 points.

The European pan index shed 0.6% during the past week, its first weekly loss in three weeks, on risk-aversion due to increasing coronavirus infections outside China.

Stoxx Europe 600 opened today's session lower, to deepen it losses for the third straight day, hitting a 3-week low, with most of the major European exchanges and sectors falling today.

The travel and leisure sector saw the largest losses in Europe today, dropping more than 5.5%, on fears over the travel restrictions in Europe, and dim forecasts for a drop in major companies' profits.

Consequently, Italy's FTSE Index plunged more than 4%, as fears mounted around Europe's third largest economy, after the coronavirus rapid spread in the north of the country.

The Italian health authorities revealed today 152 confirmed cases of coronavirus, after the virus claimed 4 victims.

This led the Italian government to put about 12 northern cities under quarantine, with Milan and Venice at the center quarantined zone, which account for about 30% of the Italian GDP.

S&P 500 futures fell 2.5% today, after the index closed lower by 1.05% on Friday at Wall Street, and posted its second straight daily loss on profit-taking from its all time high of 3,393.52 points.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 3.6%, France's CAC 40 fell by 3.7%, the German DAX shed 3.6%, and the UK's FTSE 100 fell by 3.5%.